§' 



It's the Best, Investment I Ever 

 Made 



'Conlinucd from page 5) 



A stovo in the center is used to keep 

 the ydunjr pijrs warm in eoM weather. 

 The houses arc thoroughly disinfected to 

 kill worm cpRs and parasites before the 

 farrowinK season befrins as recommended 

 by the Farm Bureau and the Illinois 

 College of Agriculture. Hoj; pastures are 

 rotated for the same reason. The pijrs 

 jret all they, want to eat from self-feed- 

 ers. Corn, tankajre and minerals with 

 alfalfa pasture and plenty of water ari' 

 relied on for economical pains. 



The 11 i)urcbred Puroc sows running 

 with the shoats are bred for early fall 

 litters. Harvey has a ho(j base in the 

 corn-hop proprani of 148 pips. With a 10 

 per cent reduction for 1!>'?.5 he can mar- 

 ket l.'j:! head. 



The 12 milk cows, mostly Shorthorns. 

 are still on diy feed clenninp up the rest 

 «)f the silape before beinp turned out on 

 pasture. The milk pocs to Milledpeville 

 to the cheese factory where last month's 

 price was SI.IU for :'..Kt pev cent test. 

 The c«vvs in milk are yieldinp about ^10 

 each a\nonth. Twenty-two head of cat- 

 tle were wintered on silape. alfalfa, corn 

 stalks and soybean hay. the milk cows 

 pettinp some pround feed in additicni. 



Harvey Cobb's farm account books kept 

 in co-operation with the Whiteside Coun- 

 ty Faiiii Rureau and the I'niversity of 

 I^Hinois Farm Manapenient department 

 pivKyoii all the facts about income and 

 expelisc. Nineteen thirty-four income, 

 for eVaniple. shows S2.08fi from hops (in- 

 cludinp first corn-hop check). S5.'?8 from 

 milk. Sl'H! from sale of cattle. ?2f'..'l poul- 

 try, .'?2'i1 epps. S'llii feed prain and sup- 

 plies (this fteni is larpely increase in 

 inventory value of corn) atVl 80.3 from 

 labor off the farm. .A total pross in- 

 come of S4.006 which after subtractinp 

 S629 expenses leaves a net of S3..377 for 

 interest on investment, upkeep on the 

 farm, labor and manapenient wape. Not 

 ."SO bad for 80 acres. Hipher prices as a 

 result of the A.'\.\ propram. the drouth, 

 and reflationary policies of povernment 

 combined with the fact that northwest- 

 ern Illinois was a favored section last 

 year made possible this excellent show- 

 inp. 



Harvey is a member of the township 

 corn-hop committee. "Here's why I be- 

 lieve in the .\.\.A propram." he said, 

 point inp to hop sales records of 1M3 and 

 1934. "Look at the 52 sprinp pips I sold 

 in September, 193.3. They netted me only 

 ?44.5.38, about S8..50 a head for 214 lb. 

 hops. The 3.^ .sold in October that year 

 netted S3o2..'>(). Fifty-five sold March 

 16, 1934 broupht S-'iS-i.TG. That's when 

 we sipned up for the corn-hop propram. 

 Look what happened the ne.xt fall when 

 the propram started to take hold. Forty- 



■)»*•-«• 



NEW AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER MANUFACTURED COMMODITIES ARE AGAIN 

 making their appearance on Illinois farms which accounts for the Increased employment and 

 activity in industrial centers. While farm buying power is up from the low levels of two and 

 three years ago, only a beginning has been made. The potential demand by farmers for 

 industrial goods is almost unlimited. The steady rise in farm prices tow2>'u parity has greatly 

 improved the exchange value of farm products although many farnr»ers. hare hit last year by 

 drouth, must await the production of a new crop before they can buy. 



nine hops sold September 20. 1934 netted 

 S801.97. Five more sold October 3 

 broupht St)5.39. Forty marketed March 

 20 this year broupht 88.70 a hundred 

 and netted .?786.27. The corn-hog pro- 

 gram made the difference between suc- 

 cess and failure for me. The payments 

 out of processing taxes are helpful but 

 not nearly so important as the pain in 

 prices. That's where livestock farmers, 

 the cattle and sheep men as well, have 

 had their greatest benefit." 



This year the Cobb farm has 23 '^^ 

 acres corn, 12 acres oats and barley, 9 

 acres soybeans for hay and seed, 12 

 acres alfalfa (fi for chickens. 7 for hops), 

 12 acres of oats and sweet clover pasture 

 for cows, 2 acres sweet corn and 1 acre 

 Grohoma (kaffir corn) for silo. The 

 balance of the farm is in parden, or- 

 chard, farmstead and road. Last year in 

 spite of dry weather corn made nearly 

 fiO bu. an acre. And 4'2 acres of soy- 

 beans yielded 118 bu. of seed. 



What's all that red stuff across the 

 fence on the next farm ? Red sorrel and 

 what a thrifty prowth this year. A sign 

 of acid soil. "P^unny thing about this 

 farm," said Harvey. "There's rich lime- 

 stone under all of it. You can dip down 

 six feet, more or less, almost anywhere 

 and strike limestone. But the top soil 

 was all acid before we limed." 



Out in another alfalfa patch north of 

 the house, Mrs. Cobb is busy with her 

 chickens. There you'll find about 1.100 

 sprinp frys. White Leghorns and Rocks, 

 weighing from 1 '*2 to two pounds, all 

 raised from baby chicks bought from the 

 hatchery the first of April. 



The chicks are placed on wire in the 

 brooder houses when they arrive and 

 started on Fesco mash mixed by the 



farmers' elevator at Morrison. , After 

 three to four wi'eks on Fesco starter, the 

 Cobbs change to a growing mash, which 

 they grind and mix themselves, composed 

 of .50 lbs. corn, 30 lbs. wheat, 19 lbs. 

 meat scrap, two lbs. Corn King minerals, 

 and one lb. salt. This feed which costs 

 about 81.70 per cwt. on today's market 

 is kept in hoppers before the young 

 growing chickens constantly. Also plenty 

 of water and alfalfa pasture. 



The young Leghorns don't fly around 

 much if you give them all they want to 

 eat. Mrs. Cobb tells you. "We haven't 

 ha<l any of this hatch killed on the hard 

 load yet," Customers from the neigh- 

 boring towns drive out and buy many of 

 the young fryers when they weigh around 

 two pounds. They are dressed to order, 

 or sold live. Last year most of the 

 springers were marketed direct to the 

 consumer and at good prices. People will 

 pay more for quality. 



Mrs. Cobb plans to keep up to 500 of 

 the young pullets to put in the laying 

 house this fall. They will be fed a hom.e 

 mixed laying mash similar to the grow- 

 ing mash to start them shelling out eggs 

 about October 1. 



I Harvey believes in insurance. He holds 

 two policies in Country Life, his new 1935 

 Studebaker six is insured in the Illinois 

 .Agricultural Mutual, and a Farmers 

 Mutual Reinsurance policy protects his 

 farm property against fire and wind- 

 storm. He patronizes the Whiteside Serv- 

 ice Co. The Cobb homestead is painted 

 with Soyoil paint. 



, "The best investment I ever made was 

 in a Farm Bureau iTiembership," Harvey 

 will tell you. "If I had pot as big re- 

 turns from other investments I've made 

 I'd, be satisfied." 



I. A. A. RECORD 



